Walled site grows at Egypt border near Gaza
Egypt has built more than 3km of wall in the past week in addition to further clearance of a large area next to its border with Gaza, BBC Verify has found.
It comes after Israel warned it is preparing for a ground offensive in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah.
The city has seen a huge increase in its population in recent months.
Egyptian authorities say “no provisions” are being made for displaced Palestinians and the area is meant for a “logistical hub” for aid.
But an aid worker for a UK charity, who is part of the humanitarian efforts in Gaza, told the BBC she had “never seen large scale clearing of land” for such a logistical hub and they were unaware of any such plan.
What do the latest images show?
More than 16 sq km (6 sq miles) have been cleared just over the border from Gaza, visible in the recent satellite images.
The clearing of this area began at the start of February, but has expanded dramatically over the past week.
Sections of wall around this area now appear to be under construction.
On 14 February, about 0.8km (0.5 miles) of wall were visible in satellite imagery, but the most recent pictures indicate more that than 4km (2.5 miles) has now been erected.
The wall appears to be being built simultaneously in three places – in this image you can see construction in the south-west corner of the cleared area.
What appears to be a crane and other vehicles can be seen near construction materials.
In the south-east corner, you can see a build up of trucks along the main road which leads from north Egypt into Gaza.
Some of these trucks are parked off the main road and within the newly-cleared area.
By BBC
